Anger at allegations made by the Lib Dems

THE Liberal Democrats are now putting out information which says that George Ferguson is not an independent candidate for the mayoral elections because he is now a political party. Yes he is, but what party? – Bristol 1st has been set up as an independent party to combat the other failed parties who have let Bristol down throughout my entire life.

In a recent blog Liberal Democrat councillor Gary Hopkins said that our team had not been out and around Bristol. I would like to challenge him on this. There are only three areas which we have not been into out of 35 wards, and those have been covered by the Bristol Observer. Can he say the same?

Judith Sluglet

ON reading your article re the Bristol mayor, I have to ask if the election to have a mayor and now to choice a mayor is democratic or fair.

I live in the suburb of Warmley which comes under South Gloucestershire .

Yet I own a business in Bristol which employs 20 staff. I pay rates to Bristol city, water rates and business waste collection.

I was born in Bristol yet as a rate payer I was not given a vote due to my place of residency. Yet I could be affected by this election.

The two business next to me are own by a non Bristol resident I can name another three that are only minutes away all who live out side Bristol yet pay rates.

I am sure it must run in to thousands of Bristol born business men and women who run there business within the city yet have no say in its future. Amongst these business must be major employers like Hargreaves Landsdown.

S Loud

I REALLY enjoyed reading the profile of Neil Maggs, the Respect's Anti Cuts candidate for Mayor in The Post (November 5).

I will be voting for Neil Maggs – not just because of his admirable words and promises – but on account of his past actions. He is the genuine article. As a member of the Communications Workers Union in Bristol for nearly 33 years I have myself experienced at first hand the damage inflicted on jobs and conditions when a public service is privatised.

So, I was very pleased to learn that Neil Maggs visited the CWU picket lines in solidarity when the posties took action to stop the then Labour government's plans to privatise Royal Mail.

An active trade unionist, Neil Maggs has a consistent record of defending our precious public services against the cuts and privatisations of Labour, Tory and Lib Dem administrations and is probably the only candidate to have actually been on strike to protect our future. Well done Neil – with a record like yours, you deserve my trust and my vote.

Mrs J Benefield

I FIND the information supplied on the Bristol mayoral election quite useless.The following questions are not answered:

What is the mayor going to be responsible for i.e. health, transport, care, housing, environment, waste and street management, benefits, tax, planning, schools and leisure etc

Will the position be replacing existing bodies therefore not increasing costs?

And what or who if any. Is there a safety net or body of people to oversee any bad decisions made by the mayor?

Will we still have a full set of councillors and leader as before and still have a chief executive and directors? I would think we could cut the amount of councillors by at least half.

Will we have a group of Bristolian voters to check and monitor this mayor's decisions? In four years he or she could bankrupt this city.

Finally, how much is this going to cost extra for Bristol.

David Payne

Sea Mills

IT seems the local Liberal Democrats are claiming that George Ferguson is no longer an independent candidate since he has joined a political party.

He has, the fact is, become a party. An independent Bristol 1st party of one. So that he can have the Bristol 1st logo on the ballot paper. (See The Post October 16). That's it.

It's hardly what one might call allegiance to a higher body, it's not giving up independence, it's a way of staying visible on the ballot paper.

Obviously, gathering support for George on doorsteps where LibDem support was previously reliable has pushed the LibDems into twisting the truth. Oh well, that's politics for you. Independence anyone?

Stephen Noreiko

I AM a retired transport engineer and my vote in favour of a mayor was not for an ambitious party politician but for someone with a proven track record.

The independent candidate George Ferguson with his business brain and a background of civil engineering who will appoint assistants on the basis of talent and experience regardless of political party, states,"I will get Bristol working and nobody will receive favoured treatment due to their party affiliation" to underline this commitment the Council House is to become City Hall.

On the other hand, Marvin Rees, the Labour candidate, has shown little vision for promoting Bristol when he supported the decision to throw out planning permission to regenerate the General Hospital.

So much for, "I will make sure our city is open for business," thankfully an independent enquiry gave the council little choice but to back down and grant approval.

Also he said that he would appoint only Labour councillors as assistants.

So much for, "I will make Bristol a world class city with big ideas, big aspirations and a big city attitude.

Other ideas like raising the basic pay rates for council workers by more than £1 per hour and building 4,000 homes (green spaces will again be under threat) again these plans do nothing to make Bristol a world class city.

Also a host of other changes seemingly duplicating current council policies.

The Bristol Mayor being the only mayor outside London will be closely watched and what better way for the Mayor to show his colours than to be meeting the Queen only a week after his election.

Comments

Thank you for printing my letter regarding musician Kate Bush (Post, Thu Nov 8), but unfortunately it was - paradoxically - sub-edited both over-zealously and sloppily.
I understand that letters are subject to checking and (if necessary) amending before publication, but in this case it was utterly gratuitous and counter-productive.
My original text was 100% accurate in content, spelling, grammar, punctuation and italicisation. Yet the published version interpolates five errors in as many sentences - the gravest being mis-stating Marina Diamandis' surname as "Diamand".
Surely modern newspaper offices enjoy instant access to the internet. If the sub thought the name was spelt wrongly, why not spend a few seconds Googling it to check?
And why spoil this short letter's perfectly correct composition by adding semi-literate punctuation?
The letter was about "Bushesque" musicians, but it seems the sub-editor was also bushesque - that is, subbing like a t***.